Page 181 of The Last Syphon

What a strange thought.

“I remember,” he grunted out. There was another shift in his stance, bringing him even closer than before. “I wish you had told me,” he amended softly.

“Why?” Inara stepped forward again. She was right at the bars. “What would you have done? Would you have imprisoned me? Killed me? Helped me? Let me go?” She wrapped her hands between two squares of the cell bars. “What? Tell me. What would you have done, Walder?”

It was the first time she’d ever addressed him without his title, and for some reason, it didn’t feel strange or out of place.

Something flashed in his violet eyes. A thought? A desire?

Inara honestly wasn’t sure.

His gaze sliced to her hands, held for a moment, and then moved back to her. His jaw clenched once more as indecision streaked across his face. Almost like he had the compulsion to do something but wasn’t sure if he should. Like he was at war with himself.

He breathed heavily, his chest rising and falling, eyes locked with hers. The tension rose again, higher and higher, quickly taking over the entire room. Inara realised her breathing matched his. A spell ensnared them, locked them in its grasp, and they were both powerless to overcome it.

Slowly, ever so fucking slowly, his hands moved out from behind him. Inara stilled, her entire focus on him as his palms brushed over her curled fists, coming to rest softly on her knuckles-

“Okay, I’m sorry, but I need to pee!” Felix yelled.

The spell broke.

Prince Walder snatched his hands back as if burnt and retreated several steps until his back hit the cell behind him. He looked down at his hands, almost as if he could not believe what’d he done before looking back at her. Their gazes locked, and for the first time, she glimpsed longing in his eyes. Longing and frustration.

“I should go.” He grunted, clearing his throat.

Inara didn’t object. She couldn’t even if she wanted to. She was far too stunned.

Prince Walder spun on the balls of his feet and marched out, leaving Inara to watch his retreating back.

She exhaled heavily the moment his commanding presence was gone. Her hands shook as she pulled them from the bars and looked at them.

What in the realm was that?

“Hello?” Felix croaked desperately. “Hellooooo?”

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

“Ithink he likes you.”

Inara looked up from her bowl of sludge, casting a confused frown at her best friend in the next cell over.

It was the morn after Prince Walder’s visit. At least, she thought it was. Truth be told, it was a little hard to differentiate time down here. There were no windows. No peek into the outside realm. But she had fallen asleep not long after Prince Walder left and had only just woken a few hours ago, when their food was delivered, so it made sense to Inara that it was now the following day.

“What?” she asked, shaking her head.

“I said I think he likes you.” Felix put a spoonful of his sludge into his mouth, and even though there wasn’t an ounce of crunchiness to it, he chewed loudly, biting down hard on the contents. “Prince Walder,” he elaborated with another loud munch. “That man has got it down bad for you.”

Inara’s heart skipped a beat at the mere idea of it. “You’re crazy,” she breathed out, refusing to believe it.

“Am I?” He tapped his temple. “Or am I a genius? They say there’s a fine line between crazy and genius."

“Who? Who says that?”

His mouth opened. Closed. A scowl formed on his brows. “People. People say it. Don’t change the subject. Prince Walder likes you, and you need to use that to your advantage to get us the fuck out of here.”

“He does not like me. The man cannot stand me.”

“Let’s look at the facts.” He placed his half-eaten bowl down on the filthy floor and crossed his legs, looking at her with more seriousness than she had ever seen from him before. “He saved you from the council.” He checked off one finger. “He stares at you all the time, even when you’re not looking.” Another finger. “He gets jealous whenever I’m near you⁠—”